Morning links: Will Rams ride hot hand at RB?

With Tod Gurley gone, Rams will take running back by committee approach

Good morning, folks. The Los Angeles Rams are in Day 4 of the ramp up to practicing in full pads, which starts Tuesday.

Reporters will be allowed to attend practice tomorrow, and I’ll be there. But for now, if you are a fan the best access has been the live look-ins provided by the team here, which have been informative.

Specifically, I’ve appreciated the honest, objective analysis from former NFL running back Maurice Jones-Drew, who had this to say about what runner will get the lion’s share of the carries now that Todd Gurley is gone.

“You go with the hot hand,” he said. “Everyone’s going to get reps, and everyone’s going to play. But whoever gets hot quickly, then that’s who you start to ride. So, one game it may be Malcolm Brown, and then the next game it may be (Darrell) Henderson, or it may be Cam Akers.

“But you want to go with that hot hand and feel the flow. And whoever gets into the rhythm, you ride them.”

My take: Hard to argue with Jones-Drew here. I agree that you let the competition play out and whoever performs the best when given the opportunity will earn more time.

Sheil Kapadia of The Athletic (subscription) ranks the teams that missed the playoffs last season with the best chance of making the postseason this year. The Rams are No. 9 on his last.

My take: The Dallas Cowboys top Sheil’s list, followed by the Indianapolis Colts and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I thought the Rams were a bit low, but I understand his reasoning – a lot of things have to go right for L.A., playing in the best division in the NFL.

Vincent Verhei of Football Outsiders takes a closer look at defensive pass rushers from the 2019 season. One stat that jumped out is the Rams rushed a defensive back just six percent of the time last season, fifth-lowest in the NFL.

My take: New defensive coordinator Brandon Staley said he’ll move cornerback Jalen Ramsey more, so could the talented cornerback be used more effectively is as a blitzer? Doubtful, as the Broncos blitzed defensive backs even less than the Rams last year, a league-low 4.2 percent of the time.

Warren Sharp of Sharp Football Analysis takes an analytical deep dive into the Rams’ 2019 campaign.

My take: I thought this stat said a lot about how the Rams performed on offense last season: In 2018, the Rams averaged 5.9 yards per carry on first down runs in the first half. In 2019, the Rams averaged 3.5 yards per carry on first down runs in the first half of games.

Former NFL agent Joey Corry writing for CBS Sports says Ramsey could be the first $20 million a year cornerback in the league.

My take: Corry’s not wrong. Ramsey and his agent David Mulugheta have all the leverage, seemingly leaving the Rams no other option but to give in to their demands.